The Valor of the Defeated
by ChocoBanana Parfait
Summary: The war continues and the battles rage on. Friends are found while many are lost. Rating M for violence, blood, language.
1. This little light of mine

General disclaimer for the rest of the fic- I don't own Dissidia

Also general note for the whole fic- Some lines and portrayals of characters may seem a bit OOC. I haven't played the English version of Dissidia, therefore I don't know their speech patterns in English. I also only got the vague gist of their personalities when playing the Japanese version. Therefore I'm gonna go with how I see the characters, but I'm still going to try to keep them as in-character as I can.

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><p>Right in the middle of enemy territory, battered, beaten and bruised, surrounded on all sides by hidden traps, and dragging an unconscious and ridiculously heavy blond blitzball ace. This was not the situation Rikku wanted to be in. Sure it was a huge comfort and victory when she finally managed to find him after sensing his presence in the area, but she didn't think he'd be comatose when she found him.<p>

"The things I go through. I swear, if Yunie didn't like you so much, I would've left you here long ago." Rikku grunted as she shifted her grip around his body. "Some star blitzball player you are, you can't even wake up and help me get out of here…"

It probably was a dumb idea coming alone to the enemy's doorstep, but Rikku jumped at the chance to try to save Tidus if she could. The war was dragging on and the Warriors of Cosmos were barely hanging on by a thread. Yuna was working tirelessly to heal the wounded, but Rikku could tell that her cousin was reaching her limit. If they had one more warrior, they might still have a fighting chance. If the warrior was Tidus, Yuna would feel at ease again.

Suddenly, Rikku felt something spark at her feet. Terror registered in her mind for a split second before she felt the full force of the electrical trap she set foot in. Pain seared in her body and she felt her blood boil. She held onto her friend as she shrieked from the pain. Soon, the bolts went away, and Rikku fell to the floor with a heavy thud, eyes full of tears pouring down her face. Of all the enemies she wanted to avoid with a passion, the Emperor was on the top of her list, solely because he used the power of thunder and lightning that she dreaded.

"Well well, look what I've got in my trap." Rikku vaguely heard footsteps coming towards her. She tried to raise her head, but her body didn't feel like listening to her mind, and her head remained bowed.

The Emperor chuckled. "I believe we've never met face-to-face. Could it be that you've been avoiding me? I wonder whatever for…" He summoned a small electrical current in his hand, and Rikku visibly flinched from the sound. "What's this? Are you afraid of lightning?" This time, the Emperor summoned a larger bolt that colored the floor with a tint of blue.

She let out a frightened whimper. _'This can't be real, this can't be happening. I finally found Tidus, why is this happening now?'_ She glanced at Tidus' face, blissfully unaware of the torturous situation they were in.

The Emperor noticed her slight movement. "Tsk tsk, it's important to pay attention to the person speaking to you, especially if that person is royalty." Without another word, he sent another electrical trap under Rikku's feet.

The pain she felt was tenfold. All of her nerves tingled and ached, her head was buzzing and felt like it was going to burst. Rikku screamed and screamed and felt her voice going hoarse.

"Such a pity we never met on the battlefield! I have never heard such delightful screams from my opponents! All the men insist on protecting the women, so I don't get to hear a scream so beautiful as yours." The evil monarch knelt in front of her, his face sporting a wicked smile. "Shall I play with you some more?"

Rikku gave the hardest glare she could. "Pycdynt…." she mumbled with a hateful tone.

"Hmph, insolent little child. I don't think I like your tone of voice." He let out more lightning and watched amusedly as Rikku suffered.

The pain was too much to bear, Rikku just wanted to curl up into a ball and die. But her strength was leaving her, and her body flailed like a rag doll as she kept getting shocked. She smelled her hair and clothes singeing and all her tears had dried up. It was getting harder to breath, and she couldn't let out proper screams anymore.

After what felt like an eternity, Rikku didn't feel anything anymore and fell to the floor with a heavy thud. She tried to take a deep breath, but it hurt to move and she couldn't get enough air to breathe.

This was it- she was going to die. How could this have happened? Not less than minutes ago she felt hope and relief from finding a comrade, and now all she felt was despair.

The Emperor let out a disgusted sniff. "Well, it was an honor defeating a Warrior of Cosmos, but I must admit, it was a bit anti-climactic." He turned his attention to Tidus. "You on the other hand, it seems like I can use you. The symbol on your pendant matches that of Jecht. This will be interesting…" With a flourish of his staff, he levitated Tidus' body and started to walk away.

He took one last glance at the girl by his feet. "Know that your death was not in vain, for you have aided Chaos in the war." And with a derisive laugh, he started to walk away. Rikku could only watch in defeat as he took her friend away.

_'Tysh ed, why. Why did this have to happen now? We were so close to getting out.'_

She tried to reach out a hand to the figures walking away, but only managed to twitch a finger.

_'We were so close to seeing Yunie.'_

She tried to call out to them, but she only let out the last of her breath.

_'We were so close to ending the war.'_

She tried to focus her gaze to where Tidus was, but her vision was blurry and dark.

_'We were so close. So _close_.'_

Slowly, her eyes drooped closed for the last time.

_'Yunie, Tidus, I'm sorry…'_

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><p>Al Bhed translations<em>:<em>

Pycdynt_- _bastard_  
><em>Tysh ed- damn it_  
><em>


	2. wait for my head on a silver plate

"My answer is no. And that's final."

"Don't say that."

"You can't do this! I won't let you go!"

"Please Squall, try to understand," Rinoa used a hand to turn her fuming knight's face towards her. "I'm only going to talk to him, I'll be fine."

The young commander stepped back out of her reach. "Yeah right, when he sees you, he won't hesitate to attack you. There's no use in talking to that idiot." He grabbed his gunblade and sheathed it, preparing for battle. "I'm going to settle this."

Rinoa placed her hands firmly on his shoulders and looked Squall square in the eyes. "No, you can't attack him, that's going to drive him further to insanity! Please, let me talk to him. He's not in his right mind and fighting with you will only make it worse."

"It's because he's crazy that I'm going to end his existence. Have you seen him out there? He's not a soldier anymore, he's a bloodthirsty executioner!"

She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and looked to the side. "Don't you remember, it's my fault he became like that."

"Bullshit. He's always been like this, he was just holding back all this time."

"And you know what caused that! You know who he was holding back for and why he joined Cosmos!" Rinoa reached up and held Squall's face in her hands. "Don't you think you would've ended up like him if I wasn't here anymore?"

He placed a palm over his face, how could he forget? He lost a sister and a friend. "Still, I wouldn't join Chaos like him."

She took his hand with her left and brought it close to her chest while her right hand remained cradling his face. "You only say that because I'm still here, your sense of loss isn't as great as his."

His grip on her hand tightened. "Damnit Rinoa, let me protect you! I'm not going to let that bastard near you!"

She gave him a sad smile. "I'm sorry Squall, but I have to do this. It's my turn to face punishment."

Before he could comprehend her words, he felt the world fade to black as he fell unconscious from the Sleep spell Rinoa cast on him. She laid him gently on the floor, running her fingers through his hair and placing a soft kiss on his forehead.

"I love you Squall, and I'm sorry."

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><p>Seifer felt fantastic as he gave one last swing to the remains of the monster before him. The monster was long dead, but Seifer kept slashing, sending blood flying everywhere. Why didn't he become a Warrior of Chaos sooner? No need to be proper and respectful, no need to hold back in battle, no need to be a model soldier like Puberty Boy. He made his own rules and did things his own way, and no one would step up to defy him. Now if only that creepy lady in the red dress with golden eyes would get off his back…<p>

"Seifer!"

He turned to face the caller and smiled. "Why, if it isn't the little princess. Where's you're emo boyfriend? I doubt he would let you within five miles of me if he's not there to protect you." He started to clean the blood off his gunblade, but kept an evil smile on his face.

Rinoa tensed for a moment before she started taking slow, small steps towards the blond knight. "He did try to stop me from coming, but I managed to persuade him." She stopped walking and fidgeted with the rings on her necklace. "Seifer, we need to talk."

Seifer let out a bark of laughter. "Oh yes, Princess Rinoa commanding everyone around her to do as she says. Seifer do this, Squall do that." He swung his gunblade around as he made grand gestures while he was talking, making Rinoa take a small step back.

He finished his speech aiming the point of the gunblade straight at Rinoa's neck. With a wry smile, he spat out his next words. "Quistis, go die."

At the sound of her friend's name, Rinoa stiffened as she felt tears starting to form in her eyes. "Seifer, I'm sorry. I never meant for things to turn out this way…"

"Shut the fuck up!" Seifer was livid, and the blood still splattered on his face and drenched on his coat didn't help things. "Listen Princess, not everything goes as you plan in the real world. Maybe in your fucking little perfect world inside those shitty little train cars you call a secret base things go your way because everyone listens to you, but that doesn't mean shit in the real world!" He edged the gunblade closer, drawing a thin line of blood on Rinoa's pale neck. "That's why Puberty Boy always has to stay within five feet of you because you go off and do stupid things on your own. That's why Quistis tried to guard you and never sent you off to fight!" He narrowed his eyes dangerously. "But did you listen to her?"

Tears started to fall one by one. "I'm so sorry Seifer, I know I was wrong, but I was trying to help."

He smiled. "It's a little bit late for sorry now, isn't it?" Without waiting for a response, he withdrew his gunblade from her neck and stabbed it straight through her left foot.

Rinoa let out a short yell as she knelt down to the ground, but she tried to hold back the pain as much as she could. She looked up at her former friend with watery eyes. "I know I deserve this, but please let me talk to you about this."

He drew out his blade and blood flowed freely from her wound. "Maybe I should listen to what you have to say," placing the tip of the gunblade near the top of her right thigh, "but I doubt anyone listened to what Quistis had to say before she died." He made a deep slash down her thigh and Rinoa let out another cry of pain.

"I know what I did was stupid and I know it was wrong!" Rinoa placed her hands over her new wound, more tears falling down her face. "I just wanted to help, I didn't want you all to protect me."

Seifer saw a faint green glow around her hands, her body subconsciously trying to heal itself from the damage it took. "No fucking way, you're not gonna heal yourself." He kicked her so she was lying flat on the ground, then stomped on her hands with his boots until he heard the satisfying crunch of broken bones over the sound of Rinoa's screaming.

"There, much better. Now you know how Quistis felt in her last moments." He let out a bitter laugh. "You always wondered how we felt going out in the front lines didn't you? Now that you've experienced it, how do you feel?" Seifer bent down and loomed over her face. "You new fancy magical powers aren't so great now, are they?"

Rinoa tried to steady her breathing and talk in a calm voice. "I know I'm responsible for killing Quistis and I deserve this punishment." She took a deep breath before continuing. "Just kill me now."

A maniacal smile formed on Seifer's face. "Kill you? Of course I will, and I'll gladly do it. But you're not going to get a quick death, not like Quistis did. You don't deserve it." He made more cuts in her body, this time on her arms and abdomen. "I'm gonna watch you die slowly, as you slowly bleed to death and as I break more bones in your body. And if you try to heal yourself, I'm gonna do more damage." He leaned in closer to her face until his lips were by her ear. "And then I'm gonna do the same to Squall."

Rinoa let out a loud sob as Seifer laughed. _'Hyne, Cosmos, whatever deity is listening to me now, please keep Squall from harm. If he's still alive when this war is over, erase every memory he has of the previous wars. He doesn't even have to remember me, just let him get home safely when it's all over. This is the only thing I'll ask of you.'_

She closed her eyes, fervently praying, desperately wishing that Squall would be kept safe. Seifer saw it as a sign of defeat and murmured one last line before he watched her struggle for life.

"Good night Princess. I'll see you in hell."


End file.
